Indicator board



w. H. WARE, JR 2,787,850

INDICATOR BOARD April 9, 1957 Filed Nov. 10, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATIDE/V57 April 9, 1957 w. H. WARE, JR

INDICATOR BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Ncv. 10 1955 0 X mm 5 6/ 9 4 0. 06V F 5 7 66 WW W 7 7 H A 5 w 5 W w" m 6 L 5 w /W M 2 Claims. (Cl. 40*65) This invention relates to an adjustable data control board and moreparticularlyto a control board of the type having sets of indicants'arr'anged'in columns to represent various data, and has for an objectto provide a control board of the, above type having novel and improvedcharacteristics.

Another object is to provide a data, control board in which an indicantcan be inserted in or removed from an intermediate position in a columnwithout rearranging the remaining indicants of the column.

Another object is to provide a control board of the above type in whichthe columns of indicants are mounted to be shifted laterally ortransposed in position as desired without disturbing the indicants ofthe individual columns. Another object is to provide indicants -in theform of runners which are slidable in vertical channels and are formedwith exposed flanges carrying data which is visible from the front ofthe board and are so arranged that the board may be photographed toprovide apermanent record of the data depicted thereon.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature ofthe inventionis more fully disclosed.

The invention will'be better understood by referring to the followingdescriptiomtaken in connection with the accompanying drawing-forming apart thereof in which certain specific embodiments have been set forthfor purposes of illustration.

Inthe drawings:

Fig. '1 is a frontelevationof a data control board embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a brokenend elevation thereof on a larger scale;

Fig. 3isapartial section takeno'n-the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 but on thescale of FigH-Z;

Fig. 4 is a broken perspective view of a portion of the control board;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a stack of indicants partly in section toshow the method of inserting the indicants in the stack;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an indicant;

Fig. 7 is a partial front elevation of a control board similar to Fig. 1but showing a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 8 is a partial end elevation in the control board of Fig. 7 withparts in section;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 9--9 of Fig. 7;and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the indicant shown in Figs. 7 to 9.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6 the board is shown as comprisinga back 10 to which is secured a lower horizontal channel member 11 andan upper horizontal channel member 12. The lower channel member 11 isformed of sheet metal and comprises a bottom wall 14, front and backwalls 15 and 16 respectively, the latter of which is secured by suitablemeans to the back 10 States Patent 0 l ceive the indicant or runner to"be described. For con- ICC and top flanges 17 and 18 the edges ofwhichare spacedto form a slot 19 therebetween to receive the lower ends ofvertical channel members 20. The front wall 15 carries a bracket 21which is adapted to receive a card or the like carrying identifyingdata.

The upper horizontal channel member 12 is formed with a top wall 22,front and back Walls 23and 24 respectively, the latter of which isattached by suitable means to the back 10, and apair of bottom flanges25 and 26 the edges of which are spaced apart to form a slot 27therebetween to receive the upper ends of thevertical channel members20. The front wall 23 is shown as carrying a bracket 28 which is adaptedto receive a card or the like carrying identifying data.

A plurality of vertical channel members 20 are slidably mounted in thehorizontal channel members 11 and 12 wit'h'their lower ends extendingthrough the slot 19 and resting upon the bottom wall 14 of the lowerchannel member 11, and with their upper ends extending through the slot27 of the upper channel member 12. Each'vertical channel 20 comprises aback'wall 30, a pair of side walls 31 and a pair of front flanges 32 theedges of which are spaced apart to form a'slot 33 therebetween to revenience of construction the channel members 11, 12 and 20 may beidentical in form and may be made from ametal blank or from moldedplastic as desired.

A plurality of'vertical channel members 20 are disposed side by side inthe horizontal channel members 11 and 12 as indicated in Figs. '1 and 4and the end channel members 20 "may be secured in1pl'ace by means ofpins 35 which extend through suitable openings in the top wall 22 of theupper horizontal channel 12 and by U-shaped pins 36 having ends whichextend through suitable openings in the flanges 17 and 18 of the lowerhorizontal channel rnember 11 as shown in Fig. 2. When pins 35 and 36 ateither end of the board are removed the vertical channel members 20 maybe inserted in the corresponding ends of the slots 19 and 27 of thehorizontal channel members 11 and 12 and may be slid horizontally intothe desired locations.

The back 10 of the board carrie'son atleast one side a plurality ofbrackets 37 which are spaced vertically and are adapted to receivecards'or the like carrying identifying data. Guide lines 38 may extendacross the board from brackets 37 to aid in reading the data depicted onthe board. Similar guide lines 39 may be applied to the exposed surfacesof the vertical channel members 20 in a .position to register with'theguide lines 38 if desired to assist in reading the data across theboard.

The vertical channel members 20 are adapted to carry indicants orrunners 40 which are preferably made from a material such as transparentplastic which can be readily molded in the desired form. As shown inFig. 6 the runners are H shaped with a hollow rear flange 41 and ahollow front flange 42 joined by a hollow connecting flange 43. Thefront flange 42 is formed with an outer wall 44, end walls 45 and innerwalls 46. In the form shown the end walls 45 are provided with slots 47to receive a card or the like carrying data which is visible through thetransparent outer wall 44. The rear flange 41 is similarly constructedwith an outer wall 48, end Walls 49 and inner walls 50. The walls 49 areprovided with slots 51 to receive an identifying card. The indicant orrunner is thus symmetrical and reversible and either the front flange 42or the rear flange 41 may be disposed at the front of the board asdesired. If the runner is made of non-transparent material the cardcarrying the identi fying data may be attached to the outer surface ofthe outer wall of the runner in any convenient manner or the data may beinscribed on the outer walls so as to be visible from the front of theboard when the runner is in place.

The thickness of the runner shown in Fig. 6 is slightly less than thewidth of the slots 33 between the flanges 32 of the vertical channelmembers 20 so that the rear flange 41 may be inserted through the slot33 when the runner is turned to vertical position. The rear flange 41 isadapted to fit slidably in the channel formed by the walls of the member20 with the connecting flange 43 extending through the slot 33 and withthe front flange 42 exposed on the front of the channel member when therunner is rotated through an angle of 90 into a horizontal position asshown in Fig. 5.

A plurality of runners may thus be arranged in stacks or columns asindicated in Fig. 1 and a runner may be inserted or removed at any pointin the stack by lifting the runners above the one to be inserted orremoved and turning the latter runner to a vertical position, insertingor removing the same as the case may be, and allowing the runnersdisposed thereabove to again fall into place. The form of board shown inFigs. 7 to 10 is similar to that above described and compriseshorizontal channels 70 and vertical channels 71 carrying runners 55which are formed with a front flange 56 of greater thickness than therear flange 57 and so arranged that when a stack of runners is disposedin the vertical channels 71 as indicated in Fig. 9 the front flanges 56of one runner 55 rests upon the front flange of the runner immediatelybelow.

This embodiment is useful where it is desirable to provide a frontflange of suflicient area to carry two lines of data or to carry data ina more easily visible form which can be photographed for reproductionsand permanent records. through the slots 73 of the vertical channelmembers 71 as in the case of the runner 40.

The runners 55 shown in Fig. 10 are also provided with a pair of alignedholes 58 and 59 which are adapted to receive pins 60, and the rear walls74 of the channel members 71 are provided with a plurality of spacedholes 61 which are also adapted to receive the pins 60. This arrangementpermits a runner to be pinned in any desired vertical position in thevertical channel members 71 and to be lifted if desired from the runnerimmediately therebelow. Obviously the symmetrical runners of Fig. 6 mayalso be provided with similar means for pinning the same at any desiredlocation in the vertical channels 2 if desired.

A control board of the above type is useful for recording and displayingvarious types of data which may be used for example for inventorycontrol purposes, for production control purposes, or as a chartrepresenting The rear flange 57 is of a thickness to pass work loads, orfor various other purposes which will be readily apparent to a personskilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable data control board comprising two opposed verticallyspaced horizontally disposed elongated tubular members rectangular incross section secured in fixed position, a medial longitudinallyextending slot in the opposed wall of each of said tubular members, aplurality of separate similar virtually disposed tubular membersrectangular in cross section slidably supported by and between saidhorizontally disposed tubular members with the ends of said verticallydisposed tubular members extending into said horizontally disposedtubular members through said slots whereby individual verticallydisposed tubular members may be rearranged or replaced in saidhorizontally disposed tubular members, each of said vertically disposedtubular members being provided with a vertically extending medial slotin the front wall thereof which is uniform in width through the lengththereof, a plurality of similar horizontally disposed stacked runnersslidably supported by each of said vertically disposed tubular members;each of said runners being H-shaped in plan and comprising i a rearflange which is slidably mounted within a vertically disposed tubularmember, a front flange which is disposed in front of said verticallydisposed tubular member and is provided with an exposed surface adaptedto carry data, and a connecting flange between said rear flange and saidfront flange which extends through the vertical slot in said verticallydisposed tubular member, the width and height of said connecting flangebeing such that said runner can be turned from horizontal to verticalposition while said connecting flange is disposed in any positionbetween the upper and lower ends of said vertical slot, and the heightof said rear flange being such that said rear flange can be withdrawnthrough said vertical slot after said runner has been turned to verticalposition, whereby any selected runner may be removed without removingother runners.

2. An adjustable data control board as defined in claim 1 in which meansin provided by which selected runners may be secured in fixed verticalpositions in said vertical- 1y disposed tubular members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS205,151 Tatham June 18, 1878 355,132 Brown et a1 Dec. 28, 1886 426,103Bouis Apr. 23, 1890 700,630 Duncan May 20, 1902 1,393,414 Watkinson Oct.11, 1921 1,996,315 Williams Apr. 2, 1935 2,129,651 Cunningham Sept. 13,1938

